Friday, February 10, 2012

Menards 101

Menards is 21 south of 30It’s like a Lowe’s or Home Depot, but they also have food at great prices

Every week in their sale flier, there are items available for great prices after sending in a rebate. Many are free after rebate (FAR), but they have a clause that you must spend $10 in non-rebate items to qualify for the free rebates. This clause does not affect items that are not FAR. Your rebate is only available in the form of a Menards "rebate check", meaning you use it just as you would a gift card.

So, you go choose your items, and the first time you shop, you will pay full price Out of Pocket (OOP). Your receipt will have rebate receipts attached, and each will have a rebate number on it. Near the exit door, a counter has all the rebate forms in numerical order. Choose the ones you need.

At home, fill out your forms (I use address labels so it takes one second each), address your envelopes, make copies or scanned versions, put in the forms and rebate receipt and you are done. I don't even have to cut out UPC's. In about three weeks, your rebate "checks" should start coming in the mail.

The next time you shop, use the checks instead of cash, and depending on how much you spend, you can greatly reduce the chance of ever having to spend money OOP there again. If you do have to spend $10 to qualify for a free rebate item, this can also come from your checks.